Well, I invite you to open your Bibles once again to the second chapter of the book of Acts, where we have read. The sermon that Peter preached on the day of Pentecost. It's wonderful to be with you again this evening and to enjoy your fellowship. To be a part of what the Lord is doing here at Beacon Baptist Church and to have been a part of it on 12 different occasions. Twelve times have been here, one for each tribe of Israel.
How's that work? And there are only 12 tribes of Israel, so that means no more, I guess. I uh Was very pleased yesterday evening. You know the dreadful problems I was having with my collar. on Sunday morning.
And uh Both the Barkman family and the Carnes family. brought collar stays for me last night.
So, you can be assured that your pastoral staff will have no flapping collars in this pulpit. You're going to take care of that. The fact that a The fact that I've been here 12 times is very blessed to me, but it is also a reminder. That, as the hymn writers said, the sands of time are sinking, and time is passing us quickly. A couple of years ago, as I would go to the doctor for a checkup, they'd begin asking me.
Have you fallen? And no doctor had asked me that before, and my response at first was: well, No. But I'll try harder the next time. And some of the people asking that question just. Don't don't identify with my sense of humor.
They're serious and I'm not too serious. But I cannot say that any longer. I have a dog. That's about a third the size of me, maybe pushing half the size of me. And but he's got Worlds more energy than I will ever have.
And he dances quite. Quite actively around my feet when I'm out there with him. And so, how many of you have? been tripped by your dog. Let me just see.
Yeah, yeah, okay, so I don't feel so bad. I'm in good company.
So I can't tell them I haven't fallen again. But they keep asking me, and I was... I was at my cardiologist's office earlier this year. And uh A PA, a physician's assistant. a little 25-year-old girl about that tall.
Um Was telling me as she checked my vitals about the practice. of geriatric medicine. And I burst into laughter. I had never been spoken of as a geriatric patient before. I thought geriatrics dealt with people that were well over the hill and into the realm of geyserdom.
But evidently I'm approaching there if not already in it pretty quick and I guess to a 25 year old PA I'm way way over the hill. But anyway, I'm feeling quite well tonight. You folks are taking good care of me, eating well. I appreciate so much your hospitality, your vibrant and warm welcome every time I'm here. I'm so comfortable over there at the missionary home.
In fact, the last two nights as I've driven into the driveway, there have been deers seated out there. in the lawn. Lying down, and last night they didn't even bother to get up. They just watched me as I walked in, and I was within 30 feet of them. And that's kind of a new one.
And then I looked out the window about an hour and a half later to see if they were still there, and they weren't. But the the largest skunk I have ever seen. Was prowling around the yard and stayed there. I don't know what he or she was looking for, but these kind of things make me feel right at home. I'm a country boy, and so I'm enjoying my time here with you very much, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to be together again tonight.
The first Christian Sermon. Here in Acts chapter 2. I mentioned some things about it last night just by way of introduction. And by way of introduction this evening, the Bible scholar Harold W. Hohner In his book, The Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ.
Has done extensive research and reports it there supporting his timeline. for the events of this crucifixion and Christ's death and then the Pentecost. Crucifixion he puts on Friday. the third of April in the year thirty three. Three days later, On April the 5th of the year 33, Sunday morning, the resurrection of Christ.
and then forty days later, On May the 14th, 33 AD, a Thursday. the ascension of Christ. And then ten days later, The Feast of Pentecost, the event of Pentecost on Sunday. May 24. thirty three.
these events taking place in that sequence. And I'll suggest more concerning The day of the week that Pentecost was on tomorrow night, I trust, tomorrow or the following evening. But on that day of Pentecost, as we have noted, The gathering of the disciples in the upper room. They had been in prayer, crying out to God with prayer and supplication since the ascension. And then, on that morning, as they met again, the first day of the week, suddenly there was the sound of a rushing, mighty wave.
Wind. And as the wind filled their ears, the sound of it, there was the appearance of cloven tongues of fire resting upon the apostles. who then were filled with the Spirit of God. and began to speak in languages they had never studied. Not a one of them knew the language they spoke in, but I believe with all of my heart they knew what they were speaking.
They knew what they were proclaiming. And the Apostle Peter then stood among them as the scoffers, observing. Wanted to find fault and suggests that these men were drunken. Peter stands up. and sets the record straight.
First, by citing the prophecy of Joel, which we've read of this evening, And stating that this was a fulfillment of that prophecy. But then By the way, preaching what we find to be the first Christian sermon. given that it is the first, it should certainly set a model and example for us in our preaching. Not only because it's the first, But because God has been pleased to include it in the text of Scripture. In other words, that sermon is the inerrant word of God.
And therefore is worthy of our careful consideration and emulation. Add to it The evidence of the Holy Spirit's anointing in the preaching of this an evidence that abounds in the fact that three thousand people were saved on that occasion. They were transformed. Their salvation not simply counted by church clerks. but rather reported by the inerrant, infallible Spirit of God.
who cannot lie nor be mistaken. And a sermon such as this as this certainly merits our careful attention.
so I want us this evening. to consider This great First Christian sermon. Then we come to verse twenty two. Where Peter begins. by saying, Ye men of Israel, Hear these words Jesus of Nazareth a man approved of God or attested by God, and there he sets forth the theme for his message.
God approves of Jesus Christ. A very simple theme for us to understand. Nothing complex theologically about that. but something about it as profound As only the The Word of God. can be.
God approves Jesus Christ. And the immediate question which arises when we see that affirmation is this. Do I approve of Jesus Christ? Do you approve of Jesus Christ? Peter in this sermon is setting that forth as the necessity which the leaders of Israel had utterly failed at.
For he tells them That Christ was delivered by the determinant Counsel of God but they with wicked hands had crucified. And you get the picture. Here is the man of whom God approves. And here is men destroying him and wanting to get rid of him and remove him from any influence at all. And I fear that this has been the role of organized religion.
through much of the history of Christianity. And it's not to get off on a tangent of church history, but if you examine the history of the church, you find. that it is Age by age. More of drifted from Christ And in doing so, replacing Christ with human ideas. human ways.
in the whole system of the Church of Rome. is one of replacing Christ With Symbols. with rituals. with men. My wife was born into a Roman Catholic home.
and went to Catholic school as a young girl, and they taught the students to sing Why do we tip our hats to the priest, and why do we call him father? He's like Christ. And how do I know? Holy orders made him so. Setting the priest in the place of Christ.
confess to the priest. When We are to confess to God. Christ. our only high priest, Well, that's just one of multiple examples that I think could be given from Christian history of religion, organized religion, setting itself against Christ. This is what the leaders of Israel's religion had done when they had Christ crucified.
And as you read Acts 3 and 4 and 5, you find that they hadn't given up. They continued against those who were preaching Christ, and soon Peter and John will be taken before the authorities and threatened and told not to preach in the name of Jesus. a name by whom they had just healed a man that had been lame for forty years. Peter preaches the first Christian sermon with the theme. God approves of Jesus Christ.
And what we will see this evening, I trust. is that he sets forth five Key points of evidence. Five arguments, if you will. to buttress this matter. God approves of Jesus Christ.
And by these means, one, two, three, four, five, we see. that approval of God upon Christ.
So let's go to the first argument. Chapter 2 and verse Twenty-two. Ye men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you. And there you have his first argument.
Look at the miracles of Christ. The wonders. The signs. Do you not see in these that God has approved of him? The presence of miracles in the scripture.
something falsely imitated by many Claimed miracle workers today. has a purpose that today's miracle workers cannot equal. We go to the scriptures and we find that purpose. The first miracles that we find are when God Gave Moses the power to perform certain miracles before Pharaoh. And before the people of Israel during their captivity.
And the reason for those was to demonstrate that Moses was indeed the authentic and authoritative spokesman of God. A man who can take a staff in his hand. throw it on the ground, and it become a serpent. and then pick up that serpent and it'll become a staff again. A man who can put his hand inside his cloak and pull it out leprous.
Then put it back in and pull it out clean. These are miracles that only God can do. That man is one to listen to. And God gave those miracles to Pharaoh, who hardened his heart against them, and to the people of Israel for their comfort in knowing that Moses was the one God had ordained to lead them out of Egyptian bondage. And those the Magicians of Pharaoh were able to reproduce by trick.
or whatever. The miracles God had given to Moses, it was only to a certain limit, and they could do no more. And I think it's so.
So instructive that when they could produce serpents. that Moses' serpent swallowed theirs up. And of course, in the Egyptian culture, the serpent. was looked to as A token of diminity, if you see any of the ancient Egyptian. As sculptures that are in museums and various places, you will find that the head dress on the pharaoh often has a cobra right at the top center as part of The affirmation of his dignity and authority and rule and power.
And so, when Moses' rod serpent swallowed theirs, there was more going on than simply magic. There was a very clear sign shown to Pharaoh that his power was limited and could be overcome, and that Moses was indeed a spokesman for God. And you go through the Old Testament with all of the miracles, you find God thereby affirming the identity of the true spokesman of Jehovah. And when we come to the New Testament and the Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest of the prophets, the one of whom every other prophet was but a shadow in a picture. You find Christ performing miracles.
It is the work of God demonstrating this is my approved Son. You will recall that when John the Baptist was imprisoned, He had completed his life's work. He had presented Christ as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. He had preached that the one coming after him whom he would present would come with a message of judgment and would bring, in fact, a purifying to the sons of Levi. And then John is imprisoned and awaiting death in that prison, And perhaps gets a little discouraged because Instead of Christ bringing judgment as John had preached, Good things were happening.
People were being blessed and helped. The judgment wasn't coming, and was John having second thoughts? Did I miss the message? And so John sent several of his disciples to Jesus. to ask him or Are you the one that should come?
And what was Christ's answer?
Well in Matthew 10 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again. those things which you do hear and see. The blind. receive their sight. The lame Walk.
The lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached unto him. To answer John's question, Christ pointed to the miracles, which affirmed that he was approved of God. And I always rejoice in singing that great him of Charles Wesley 04,000. tongues to sing. My great Redeemer's praise, and that one stanza which I'll probably misquote, but here I'll try anyhow.
Hear him. Ye deaf. His praise, ye dumb, your loosened tongues employ. He blind? Huh.
Behold, your Savior come. And leap ye lame For joy. How blessed it is that Christ came. In such A ministry is that. And if anyone observed the life of Christ, and saw his miracles and did not recognize that the power of God was upon him.
That man was truly blind. and lost. Why we read of Nicodemus the Pharisee, the Pharisees who became infamous. for their hatred and rejection of Christ. But Nicodemus comes at night and says, We know that you are a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
And so the enemies of Christ, the Pharisees, recognized something mighty was going on here. and their refusal to acknowledge God's approval upon Christ constituted therefore the most grievous of sin. and wickedness. And as Peter stands to preach on the day of Pentecost in the midst of scoffers, In the midst of those who, hearing the preaching of the apostles, say, These men are drunk. Peter stands up and speaks to them and says, God approves of Jesus Christ, and he has approved of him by the miracles.
that he has performed. And there wasn't a person hearing Peter Preach. who had not been made aware by one way or another of the miraculous. Performance. of Christ.
That's his first argument. A second argument that he sets forth Again, looking at verse Number twenty-three. Him Being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. In other words, it was God's working, it was God's purpose. He had determined beforehand what was going to happen in the sacrifice of his son, why his son was as a lamb slain from before the foundation of the world.
But Yee. Have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. whom God hath raised up. And there's the second argument. for the approval of Jesus Christ.
God approves of Jesus Christ by having raised him from the dead. Were he not approvable to God, he would have remained in the tomb. and decomposed like every other human corpse. But God raised him up. He loosed the pains of death.
It was not possible that he should be held by it. And in raising Christ from the dead, God was affirming. This is the one upon whom my approval rests. And Peter seizes that as another argument for the approval of God upon Christ. He is living.
He was raised from the dead. Show to me the person whom God has raised from the dead. And I will show to you the person of whom God approves. And this is the blessing of it. Every one of his people, the scriptures teach us.
will be resurrected from the dead. attesting to the fact That of every one of his people there is God approval. He's approved of his people and that is assured Inasmuch as Christ is the first fruits, Of them that slept, and then we that are Christ's at his coming, when the trumpet shall sound and the dead be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. And so the resurrection of Christ is proclaimed as a second evidence. that God approves of Jesus Christ.
We gather every Easter Sunday. We sing the Easter hymns. We rejoice in the wonder, the miracle of the resurrection. Let us be even more mindful that this is the approval of God upon Christ. And not simply on Easter Sunday, but every Sunday of the year.
we gather on the first day of the week, in celebration of Christ's resurrection on the first day of the week. And it was on the first day of the week that Peter here stands up and preaches this message. God approves of Jesus Christ, Christ approved by the miracles He performed, Christ approved. by the resurrection from the dead. But as Peter discusses and proclaims the resurrection of the dead, In the midst of doing so, he brings forth a third argument, A third evidence.
of God's approval upon Jesus Christ. And so we find in verse 24 whom God hath raised up. Having loosed the pains of death, Because it was not possible that he should beholden of it, for David speaketh concerning him. Third. David spoke and wrote, about Jesus Christ.
Now the We know that. And to us, it may not have the impact as it would have in that setting. But to the Jewish people Living there in Jerusalem And coming from All over the dispersed world where they were on this pilgrimage. Remember, this is a pilgrimage that brings. The men of Israel together, all of them were to come three times a year.
And I think it was notable the first one was at the Passover where they would know of Christ's. crucifixion and resurrection. The second one was at Pentecost when they would learn of the Holy Spirit's descent. And as they have gathered together, these are people who revere. David, the Jews to this day do.
Some years ago I was traveling on an overnight flight. And The seated beside me on the plain, were a young Jewish couple. I knew he was Jewish as soon as I saw him. He was wearing the yarmulke on his head and was involved in teaching in a Jewish school. And so we had a night together across the Atlantic to talk and discuss and ask questions.
And knowing that the Jews reject Jesus as Messiah, I asked him What What will it be? that confirms to you your Messiah's identity. When he comes? How will you know? That it's the Messiah.
And he really didn't have an answer. He didn't know, but he did s begin by saying Well, he will be a son of David. He goes back to David, you see. The Jewish people to this day look with great Great wonder at David, perhaps the greatest among them. And even the prime minister of Israel to this day will make reference to the kingship of David.
David was the highly esteemed one. And you mean that he was talking about Jesus Christ? Hundreds of years before Jesus of Nazareth was ever born? That's the point that Peter is making. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God, was approved in that he performed these miracles that God gave him, was approved in that God raised him from the dead, and was approved in that he was the one of whom David.
Yes, David the great king, the one of whom David spoke. And when Peter brings David and the scriptures into. The discussion And indeed, he proceeds then to quote David from the 16th Psalm, which is Where he says, Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption. These people, hearing Peter preached, knew those passages from the Psalms. And suddenly they're confronted with the argument: these were David's words about the Lord Jesus Christ.
And God thus approves of him in that the greatest king of whom God certainly seems to have approved, he was a man after God's own heart, he was the sweet psalmist of Israel, by him God gave us all of the hymns of the Psalter. Certainly, therefore, David's approval of Christ. is God's approval of Christ. And in the larger argument, What this does is proclaim. that the Old Testament In fact, had Jesus of Nazareth as its subject.
You cannot rightly understand the Old Testament if there is no Jesus of Nazareth. You go to the book of Genesis, and in the third chapter, it begins with the proclamation that the seed of a woman will crush the serpent's head. You read a few chapters later, and you find the whole world under judgment, but there is an ark that takes the brunt of the storm. And everything inside the ark is protected and delivered from the destruction. And what do we find there but a picture of our Ark Christ Jesus?
All who are in him sailed through the storm of Calvary. As the judgment fell upon our substitute. Instead of upon us. and we in him come out. At the tomb, alive with him.
This is why Paul would say, I am crucified. with Christ. You continue in the book of Genesis and you find A virtuous young man named Joseph, who is despised and rejected by his brethren, but in spite of all of the rejection, he is exalted to be king and ruler in Egypt. You continue on in the book of Exodus and the sacrifices are set forth and the Lamb that is there clearly has a symbolism in the Passover that is Christ. You continue to the Psalms, and you find the Psalmist speaking of Christ, even as twice in this sermon Peter refers to the Psalms, Psalm 16 and Psalm 110, to affirm this is all about the Lord Jesus Christ.
You hear the prophet Isaiah saying, Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrow, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He continues speaking of how this one, the servant of Jehovah, was cut off out of the land of the living. How he will justify many because he bore their transgressions, their iniquities, and you can find nothing else there but Christ. You go through all of the prophets and you come to the last one, where Malachi is speaking to indifferent and And irresponsible Jewish religionist says to them, the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple.
Even the messenger of the covenant, whom you delight in. Behold, he shall come, but who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire and like a fuller's soap, and he shall purify the sons of Levi. And John the Baptist comes along then, quoting, referencing Malachi the prophet in his own preaching, why from start to finish, the Old Testament is about the Lord Jesus Christ.
For in fact, Peter tells us it was the Spirit of Christ which was testifying in the prophets of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. And as Peter proclaims the approval of God upon Christ. beginning with the miracles, and going to the resurrection. He then points out how that this resurrection of Christ was spoken of, by no less. than the August Majesty King David in the Old Testament.
the suggestion that the whole of the Old Testament is about Christ. And then there is the fourth argument that Peter makes. And we observe In verse number 33. Therefore being by the right hand of God, exalted, And having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear.
Now he proclaims that Jesus is by the right hand of God. Exalted. Why Peter, ten days earlier, had been there and seen Christ suddenly begin to ascend, and leave Earth. What other man had that happened to except for Elijah of old?
Somehow or another, Enoch had walked with God and was not, for God took him. And no one would question the approval of God upon Enoch or upon Elijah. And now Christ has been. Ascended into heaven. And it is at the right hand of the throne of God, exalted.
This is not what the religious leaders of Israel wanted to hear. But they would hear it again. For it is true, and God would have this to be known. For it won't be long after this event That one of the deacons chosen by the apostles to To serve the church in Jerusalem. is himself out preaching, Stephen was his name.
And as Stephen preached, he set forth The pattern of the people of Israel who had stoned and destroyed and killed the prophets. Would not receive the messengers of God. And having proclaimed The history of Israel's rejection of the God-sent prophets, he stirred the ire and hatred of the people present. And especially did he do so by saying, That the same thing that had happened to those prophets, they now have done to Christ Jesus. In other words, Stephen, following the pattern of Peter Preached a message, the bottom line of which was: God approves of Jesus Christ.
And as they began to stone Stephen to death, And as life was beginning to ebb forth out of his body, The heavens open. And he looked and yet could see and speak, and said I see Jesus. Hmm. The people that he was preaching to didn't want to hear that either. They were destroying him.
But they couldn't silence him, and he being dead yet speaketh today. He said, I see Jesus. And not only did he say, I see Jesus, which would confirm he's looking into heaven and seeing Jesus Christ there, but he said, I see Jesus standing at the right hand. Oh God. The place of greatest exaltation.
And Peter cites that. As yet, another evidence of God's approval upon Jesus Christ. The miracles he did while he was among us. God raising him from the dead. The fact that he is cited by David in those inspired prophetic passages.
the subject of the Old Testament. And the fact that he has already revealed himself to the apostles as being stationed at the right hand of God. And then Peter gives the fifth argument. Again, in that thirty-third verse. Having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost.
He hath shed forth this which ye now see And here. He states What you're seeing here on this day of Pentecost Which you want to dismiss as merely drunken men babbling. This is in fact God the Father manifesting his approval of Jesus Christ. For the Holy Spirit has come from God. And he has come.
in answer to the prayers of Christ. Christ had said to the disciples, I will pray the Father. And he shall send you Another comforter. This coming of the Holy Spirit. Was the Fathers answering Christ's prayer?
And sending this other comforter. This coming of the Spirit of God At the Behest of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is something that again is prefigured in the scripture in various ways. The Feast of Pentecost. That's where we started yesterday morning.
is but one of them. I think of that passage in Proverbs chapter one. Where wisdom Speaks. Wisdom. Not simply and intellectual cunning.
or strength, But Proverbs presents wisdom in that first chapter as a person. Who speaks? And he cries out in the streets. He cries out to the simple. To the foolish He cries out and says to them, Turn.
Turn! Turn at my reproof. Warning them that judgment will fall upon them. But if they turn He says I. Will pour out my spirit.
upon you. And that is a call that goes to the whole world today. As Charles Spurgeon put it, Briefly, in a message that he preached, Hurdy or birdie. How sobering. But turn and receive the Spirit of God, This is what had happened on the day of Pentecost.
The apostles were believing. And believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. They now had turned from their own ways, had turned from their sin. The Holy Spirit is given to them and would be given to anyone there who would turn. And the giving of the Spirit of God.
Is itself a divine approval of Jesus Christ? For he had said By his spirit, Through The Prophet Joel whom we read earlier in the chapter. Upon my servants And the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. John the Baptist. had introduced Christ, saying, I baptize you with water, but there cometh one after me, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
and with fire. And in Christ's own ministry, there in John chapter 7, on the great feast day, he cried out. And said If any man thirst, Let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow living rivers of living water. And John adds in there, but the This spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given.
Because that Jesus was not yet glorified. He was promising the Holy Spirit, and then in the 14th chapter, when he tells the disciples, 14th chapter of John, when he tells the disciples that he must go away, he says, I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever and ever, even the Spirit of truth. And in John chapter 16, again, I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come, but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And so the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was the Concluding evidence.
That God approves of Jesus Christ. He approves of him by the miracles Christ performed. He approves of him by the resurrection of Christ from the dead. He approves of him by means of David and the Old Testament writers making Christ the subject of their writing. He approves of him in that he is now exalted by the right hand of God.
Only with divine approval would he be there. And he approves of him, made evident in the fact that he has heard his petition that the Spirit be given, and the Father has sent the Spirit unto his people indeed. And as Peter preached this, clearly The Holy Spirit was upon him. Giving to his words the very power. of the word of God.
God. And Peter says in verse 36, Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified. Lord and Christ. And he sets Christ before them. and affirms God has approved of him.
In so many miraculous, powerful ways. And you. have crucified him. Where does that put you? And I can say to everyone this evening, The same thing that Peter says, God approves of Jesus Christ.
by a sequence of irrefutable evidences, Do you approve of Christ? Pleased. or have you turned to go your own way, Do you walk away from him? Do you wish to avoid the question and ignore the Savior? God approves of him.
And those who do not approve of him place themselves under the judgment of God. to be feared and dreaded and to be repented of. And as those that day heard, verse thirty-seven, When they heard This They were Tricked. in their heart. They were cut to the very heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
And perhaps there are some here to night who should join with them in that cry, What shall we do? Do you know Jesus Christ? as your Saviour and your Lord. Have you embraced him as your one and only hope for eternal life? If not, You turn from him.
If not, You join with those who rejected him in the face of such evidence as Peter set before them. Peter said to them, Verse thirty eight. Repent. Repent. Turn is what it means.
Repent of your sin, turn from your sin, and turn to the Savior, and give testimony to that turn by your baptism, and he promises ye. shall receive. The gift. of the Holy Ghost. This was the Sermon of Pentecost.
May it resonate in our own hearts. May it find in us the response of those who responded in repentance that day. And on that day As we all well know, 3,000 people believed. Repent it. were baptized.
Receive the Holy Spirit. And the great revival that began on that day continues to this very hour.
Souls are believing. They are being saved. We may not See as many conversions as we would like to see, O Lord. Grant that there be more among us. But they are taking place.
All that we do when we Speak of witnessing a conversion is see the outer evidences, but God is working in hearts. He will call unto himself all whom he is pleased to call, they will be saved. And Peter would later write in his epistle To inform us that Christ, in fact, will not return. Until The last One of his elect has been brought in. And he said to his disciples, Other sheep have I which are not of this fold, them also I Must Brilliant.
And they shall Hear my voice. And so the hearing of Christ's voice savingly is accompanied with the recognition. The God approves of him. And therefore I too. Must.
Approve. him. Believe. That's how we approve of him. Believe.
on the Lord Jesus Christ. and thou shalt be saved. Shall we bow together? As we pray, our God and our Father in heaven. We thank you that the Saviour has come.
That he has finished the work that you gave him to do of atoning for every sin that will ever be forgiven. We thank you that you've made this known unto us by the Spirit of God who gave us the scripture. who unfolds its truths to our understanding and applies them in a life-giving application effectually to our hearts. We thank you for the sermon that Peter preached there at Pentecost. and for the richness it is to our own soul's nourishment.
And we pray that once again you would make of that sermon a powerful testimony to convince unbelievers that even in our hearing this evening There may be one or more Cut to the heart by what he hears, realizing that he has rejected Christ, thus disapproving of the one and only one. of whom you have approved. And may such turn. and repent. and know Christ as Saviour.
Work these purposes to your own honour in our midst. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Yeah, um
